Heavy metal with a political message from Ai Weiwei

The Chinese artist and political campaigner releases a music video for his
heavy metal single Dumbass, which reconstructs the 81 days he spent detained
by the authorities.

9:38AM BST 22 May 2013

Artist and human rights activist Ai Weiweihas released a heavy-metal single called "Dumbass'" - meant to reconstruct his 81-day detention in 2011, which was part of an overall crackdown on dissent by the Chinese government.

With it he has released a music video showing two emotionless prison guards who watch Ai as he eats, sleeps, paces, showers, and even sits on the toilet, much of it metaphor designed to mock state power.

Ai was convicted of tax evasion by China, which his supporters saw as punishment for his activism.

"This is dedicated to all those people who do not have the opportunity to raise their voice, who will never be able to raise their voices," Ai said.

"This is not just one generation. In the past 60 years there have been innumerable amounts of people who have been killed or taken away from their homes, even tortured to death."

Ai has used his art to draw attention to injustices in China and the need for rule of law. His video depicts an insensitive, overbearing state power that ignores individual rights.

The explicit Mandarin lyrics of "Dumbass" are sung by Ai himself, who said he has found in music a therapeutic way to break through the memories of his ordeal.

The music was composed by Zuoxiao Zuzhou, a Beijing-based heavy-metal artist and friend of Ai who has also experienced several run-ins with the government.

For the video, shot in a studio in Beijing, Ai brought on board renowned Australian cinematographer Christopher Doyle, who has shot films for Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai, among other renowned filmmakers